There Is Value in Failing, Part I

We often teach our children that failure is not an option. This blog is meant to add to that thinking.

Letting a child fail can provide valuable life lessons. Over the course of our history, some of our greatest Americans have had extraordinary and numerous failures that ensured their place in our memory. Learn more about these legends by watching “Famous Failures,” but more importantly, share their stories with your children. Then, remember three four valuable lessons that your child is learning the next time they fail.

Lesson #1: Knowledge

With failure comes first-hand knowledge that can be leveraged in future, often more critical, endeavors. Thomas Edison famously failed 10,000 times to create a commercially viable electric lightbulb. With each of those failures, Edison gained the knowledge of one more way NOT to create that lightbulb. It was his collective knowledge from the 10,000 failures that ultimately led to his success.

Lesson #2: Experience

Failing gives a child an invaluable experience. When a child fail, they have an expereince that no one can take away. It helps them develop a deeper understanding for life and teaches them to appreciate their accomplishments all the more.

Lesson #3: Resilience

The more a child fails, the more resilient they can become…with a parent’s guidance and support. If your child believes he/she is going to succeed easily at everything they try, then they are sure to experience a far more painful failure in the future. They must build resilience because it sets the tone for success and eliminates the unrealistic expectations that things will happen overnight. Then, your child can adopt the notion that true success will take an enormous amount of work and effort.

Lesson #4: Growth

Failure allows your child to grow and mature as human beings. The process of failing gives a child time to think, to take things into perspective, and to develop meaning from painful situations. We are all meant to grow; it’s built into our core. Failure is one life trigger that helps satisfy that need.

In the next article, we’ll look at how to help your child recover from failure.